The present invention relates to a wheelchair type walking aid robot and, more particularly, to a wheelchair type walking aid robot in which a wheelchair type lift is combined with an exoskeleton designed for a user's lower body to enhance muscular strength or to help walking or rehabilitation.
Normally walking aids are used to assist patients or older people in their walking or rehabilitation. According to an increasing interest in the quality of life and welfare, and due to a rapid entry into an aging society, the research and development in walking aids show a tendency to increase.
Typical walking aids have a simple mechanism to operate depending on user's motion. However, recently introduced walking aids are attempting to combine a computer with a human engineering mechanism and thereby have some advantages such as better convenience and the effect of enhancing muscular strength. For instance, Korean Patent No. 612031 entitled ‘Tendon-driven power assisting orthosis and control method’ or Korean Patent No. 716597 entitled ‘Robot for assistant exoskeletal power’ discloses a technique that an exoskeleton is designed for a user's lower body and driven by a driving unit provided to an arm of a caster walker used as a walking aid.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional walking aid robot is composed of an exoskeleton 10 designed for a user's lower body, a caster walker 20 driven by a motor, and an arm 30 connecting the exoskeleton 10 and the caster walker 20. The exoskeleton 10 has a pair of leg frames 11 to which a hip joint part 12 and a knee joint part 13 are provided and with which a waist brace 14, a thigh brace 15 and a calf brace 16 are combined. The caster walker 20 with wheels 21 is driven by a separate driving motor and has a handle suitable for a user's grip. The arm 30 installed in the caster walker 20 and connected to the exoskeleton 10 has a driving assembly composed of a motor, a gear, etc. to respectively drive the hip joint part 12 and the knee joint part 13.
This conventional walking aid robot is very useful for rehabilitation through an increase of muscular strength as well as for a walking aid since the caster walker 20 drives by itself and also forces the driving assembly of the arm 30 to drive the hip joint part 12 and the knee joint part 13 of the exoskeleton 10.
Nevertheless, this conventional walking aid robot may be worth little as a long-range transportable means because it fails to have a driving function of existing wheelchair.
Also, the conventional walking aid robot has a considerably great turning radius due to limitations on degree of freedom, so it may be not available in a narrow space.
Additionally, the conventional walking aid robot has a great possibility of overturning or of causing a user to fall down when it fails to work correctly or when a user loses balance. Therefore, it may be weak in structural stability.
Furthermore, the conventional walking aid robot that assists user's motion by applying a torque to each joint part may often fail to offer 100 percent power in case of user's sitting or rising actions due to limitations on torque output of a driving motor.